


Skin Game Aftermath

by WonderingWanderer



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 02:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17438195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderingWanderer/pseuds/WonderingWanderer
Summary: The day after Skin Games ends





	Skin Game Aftermath

Thomas  
I didn’t know what had happened, only that Karrin sounded “off” when she asked me to meet her in the hospital lobby, to “bring some decent scissors” and promised she only needed 5 minutes of my time so I wouldn’t need to worry about being around wounded kine. Karrin rarely asked for favors from anyone, so I went. Empty Night! She looked terrible, bruises everywhere, one arm strapped to her body, IV stuck in the other, and she sat in the wheelchair at an odd angle. She managed a half smile before her lip started to bleed.  
“Should I ask what the other guy looks like?” I quipped, trying for light-hearted. Her face went still so fast it startled me. She shook her head slightly, dropped her eyes from mine: “Just say I screwed up and let it go for now.” She reset herself in the wheelchair, sitting more upright and pointed to a spot off to the side where we’d be out of the way. I wheeled her over and she stared out the window for a few seconds before she asked if I’d brought the scissors. I nodded and she reached back for the long ponytail. “I can’t deal with this for a while and I know you’ll take care of things right once. . .once it’s done.”  
I’d never seen her hair so long before and all I could think was Harry was going to kill me once he found out. “What about Harry? Does he know-”  
“He’s OK. Over at the Carpenter’s, I think. Can we get it over with? The nurse will be looking for me.” It only took a minute. And then she said “Thanks,” very quietly and watched me carefully stow things in a bag I’d brought along. A nurse started in our direction, shaking her head at Karrin who just gave me a small smile, told me not to worry and said she’d explain things later. As I walked away I heard the nurse lecturing Karrin about patients who leave their rooms without telling anyone. I obviously needed to talk to my brother about things, including the tiny welts on my hand.

 

Karrin  
Roller coasters. My life for years now resembled a series of roller coaster rides. The last 48 hours reinforced that. The battles, the almost wins and awful rush of loss and failure, the blur of the hospital, then Harry. . .the next morning I'd managed to call Thomas for some help and I really didn’t even listen to the nurse who tracked us down in the corner of the lobby and lectured me all the way to the elevator. I was tired again, my shoulder hurt and I’d refused most of the painkillers that morning because I knew how much I could stand and I needed some kind of control over the situation. . .  
The nurse had turned the wheelchair around and the elevator doors had almost shut when I heard a voice I knew and the cop caught the doors and elbowed his way in. “Karrin? What the hell? Karrin. . .” He shook his head, a gesture I knew all too well.  
“Hey, Kevin. What brings you here?”  
“Certainly not you! You don’t talk to us. . .Christ, Karrin! What happened? Does Mom know about this?”  
I thought furiously and came up with: “Car accident, not as bad as it looks. Mom doesn’t know, doesn’t need to know. Got it?” I set my cop face and looked him right in the eye, then realized how much I’d missed him. Cutting myself off from family had been the only thing I could do for everyone, especially the boys. They were still cops, still had futures as long as I stayed out of their lives so they weren’t tainted by the rumors and unexplained incidents that ended my career. Like all the whispers I’d been a dirty cop.  
Kevin looked at me the way he’d done when we were little and deep into something Mom said not to do. Pretty sure he wouldn’t say anything now but I told him I expected to go home shortly, so he should just get back to work and forget he’d seen me. He looked at me, nodded a little, then bent down to look me in the eye and said, very gently, “Sure that’s the way you want it?” Kevin and I’d been the closest siblings and this was going places I couldn’t go right now. Family, go figure. “Yeah, Kevin, that’s what I want.” He laid a hand on my good shoulder for the briefest moment, said “OK” and got out of the elevator. I didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the morning.

Kevin  
I couldn’t believe it when I saw Karrin in the elevator. Car accident? No way. The bruises on her face came from a fight. After I interviewed the suspect under guard on the 3rd floor I needed to check into Karrin’s case. She could tell me to stay out all she wanted, but family’s family. And then I saw Rawlins on my way out of the hospital and realized whatever happened to Karrin came from that strange side of the street where the spooks lived and Karrin used to work. I chewed on ideas all the way to lunch time, then drove to mom’s house.  
It might have gone better if Lisa hadn’t been there when I showed up. We’d almost finished eating when I mentioned running into Karrin. I didn’t even get to the details before Lisa snorted and shook her head. “Of course you’d have to run into her, she’s too busy to spend time with the rest of. . .” and that’s when mom cut her off and asked her to go check on the girls playing in the backyard. She tried giving mom a look but that never worked any more.  
“How is your sister? I haven’t heard from her in a couple of months.” She tried for nonchalant  
but she just sounded sad.  
“Maybe you should go see her, Mom.” I hesitated for a minute. “Her room’s on the 4th floor at the hospital. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s hurt but I’m tired of pretending we don’t all know what she’s done for us the last few years by staying away from us.” I chanced a look at her face, swallowed and went on: “I wasn’t supposed to say anything to you.”  
Mom got up, went into the kitchen and came back with her purse, car keys in hand and started to say something. The phone rang. She hesitated a second, looked at the number and picked up. I recognized Rawlins’ voice. She listened to him but I couldn’t hear his end of the conversation, which was mercifully short. “Rawlins says she probably needs some help when they discharge her and asked me to please try and talk to her. He won’t say what happened, at least not on the phone.”  
I started wondering what chain of events I’d set in motion, decided not to worry about it and kissed her as she left. I remembered my bullet-proof vest locked in the trunk and thought maybe I should have offered it to her.

Harry  
Rawlins caught me just as I got out of the elevator and walked toward Karrin’s room. It was late afternoon and I wanted time with her. And then I heard Marion’s voice and Karrin’s voice and thought maybe the best thing to do was stop dead. I looked at Rawlins who fixed me with a cop face. “Who called her mother? I didn’t think they spoke any more.”  
“I called her. Look, Dresden, I’ve known Karrin since she was a kid. Her dad and I worked together and Marion and I have always gotten along.”  
“You know every one involved and you still thought this was a good idea?” I could hear Karrin’s voice, raised a bit now.  
Rawlins just stared at me and quietly said “One of these days I’ll have to knock on Marion’s door and tell her Karrin didn’t make it out of whatever fight she got into. I think they ought to at least be friends again before that happens. You think different, let me know.” As he walked away down the hall, I sat down to to think.

Everyone said that physical therapy days would be the worst. I thought they were the best because Karrin was worn out and let me hold her while we sat on the couch. It didn’t look like much, I guess, but for us that was major progress. If I managed a spell well enough, we’d watch tv and I got to hold the remote because I was the only one with 2 good hands.


End file.
